"Questions From Robin..."

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon here in the Mississippi Delta... finally... after such a LONG period, where our temperature lows were around 88F at night, this wonderful rain has the temperature at 73F here at 12.45PM on this Sunday.


It seems that lately, I've been posting some nonsensical bull shiznit... what better to break me out of that mold but a series of questions posed by Robin over at Your Daily Dose...


Let's get started...


1. We all dance with the seven sins from time to time. Which of the seven sins do you dance with most frequently, and why? They are wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.


Well... definitely not wrath.  I'm not sure I've ever have been an angry person. Envy? I sure get jealous when I see someone with a guitar that I desire and covet!! But not really... if I can't get by with all of the ones I have, then I need help.  Maybe at one time, I maybe have dealt with envy, but after the Great Train Wreck of 1996... that bled over a bit into 1997, Life has been good.... really good.


Lust? What's so bad about having some Lust in one's Life?  After the Great Train Wreck, I think I hid myself away from anything having to do with women and sex... maybe I did too good of a job in shutting myself down.  I think in that time, I became afraid of women and relationships... of sex... of Lust and Passion... I didn't want to take chances with my feelings, my emotions, my heart. I didn't want to hurt again because I had become unsure about Love... even cynical.  Of course, nothing lasts forever... does it?  


I do have to admit that someone has allowed me to experience great emotional upswings here lately... I am hopeful.


2. If you could live for a week in the body of someone famous, who would it be? You would still be you, but you could access their need to know info as you needed to know it. Of course, the kicker is that they would live in your body and have the same privileges.


Nothing great, exotic, or erotic here... I would love to be Sir Paul McCartney for a week... so I could take advantage of ALL of the knowledge he has amassed over his Lifetime about bass guitar and music.  He has GOT to be the most melodic bass player I've ever heard... and his genius for creating bass lines as they relate to musical keys of songs is, in my opinion, unsurpassed.


In return, he gets to be me for a week.  He would learn how much some people in my Life really mean to me.  He would learn how much I love my job and what the students mean to me.  He would probably be bored to tears!


3. Do you believe that angels walk among us? That there are true psychics, mediums, or anyone who is more connected to God than the average person?


Yes, I do... but then again, I'm strange that way. I also believe in Soul Mates...  Somewhere towards the end of the time that was my Great Train Wreck, when I was moments away from taking my own Life, I am convinced my Dad returned to save me... to stop me.


I do believe there are true psychics, mediums, etc., but I'm not necessarily sure that they are connected to God as much as to some power.  I am reminded of a story my daughter told me about the time that she and her Mom went to visit this local person who is said to have these great powers.  She and I have two children from our marriage.  During the reading, my daughter told me that this woman stopped turning Tarot cards, backed away, and looked at her Mom and made a comment along the lines of, 'You told me you have two children... I see three.'  My daughter said that her Mom explained that discrepancy due to a miscarriage...  I guess her Mom forgot it was an abortion. *shrugs*


4) Have you ever dreamt about a future event that happened, a past event that happened when you were but a very young child, or anything that was just so real, but otherworldly, that you felt its truth in your soul? If so, I'm listening.


I'm not aware of anything I have dreamt about, but I will admit to experiencing feelings of 'deja vu.'  I DO have this vivid memory of being at Mount Rushmore as a young boy.  It's the MOST vivid memory. I can still feel the chill in the morning sky... how blue that sky was... Mom said we never went... so I don't know if this could have been such a dream that you speak of, or if it's a past Life experience.  It is real to me... so real.


5) Do you feel like you have a gift that you aren't using? It could be for anything. Design, writing, art, photography, decoration. The list is endless.


Yes.  When I first started college, I was an art major.  I made as much of a change as one could make when I changed my major from art to business... however, if any of you  are business people, you can appreciate how much creativity is needed in business... so maybe I didn't make THAT much of a quantum leap.  As a business prof, I have discovered that my teaching styles are almost polar opposite from most of my colleagues.  


I do want to start painting again... I do want to tinker with photography...


6) Is there someone that you are unwilling to forgive? Is it weighing on your heart? Eating you up on the inside? This is a yes or no. If it is yes, I hope you make the choice today to want to forgive and then let it go. Throw out your desire into the universe.


Is there someone I am unwilling to forgive? Yes. Does it weigh on my heart? No... not really... I lose no sleep over it.  I have no desire to forgive this person.  I have dismissed his relevance to me... his relevance in my Life has been reduced to less than zero...


Having said this, I DID forgive the sister who totally fucked us over when Dad died... who stole over $400,000 from Dad's estate... I forgave her, but I haven't forgotten.


We can't forget those kinds of things... if we do, we open ourselves up to have it happen again.


7) If we were able to take away or add one element into the heart of each and every man, which one would be the one that would make the most difference in making this world a better place to live?


I think the one element that we are missing from Humanity on a grand scale today is 'Respect...'  Respect for ourselves... Respect for others... Respect for our Country... Respect for our Religions, whatever they may be...


The world has become too mean... too hateful... I don't understand it...


8) What is the last movie you saw at the movie theatre? Using the five star system, how would you rate it?


I saw 'Eat, Love, Pray...'  I'm not sure I have the order right, but it's close enough.
On a Five Star system, I would give the movie about 2 1/2 stars... maybe 3... The company I had at the movie warrants 5 Stars... but I could be biased.  


I've done as much soul searching... as much of a review of my psyche as she did without taking off from work for a year and going around the world.  Maybe she needed to visit Italy, India, and Bali...  Give me the Grand Canyon... Bryce Canyon... Monument Valley... and I can accomplish what I need to.  


Maybe this better explains my trip out West at the beginning of this month, and how... hmmm... disappointed I was in that I didn't get to the geographic place or places I needed to reach.


Life requires that we do an inventory of ourselves... an ongoing one.  I think so many people that feel so lost... so many who wait for someone else to tell them their Fate, their Destiny, lack this ability to take care of themselves... if that makes any sense.

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Now... I want to go back and answer a few of the questions that Robin answered...


1. What item of yours has the most sentimental value, and why?


I have two items.  After my sister fucked us over by taking everything...  EVERYTHING that connected most of us to our Mom and Dad... the house she also stole from us suffered fire damage after a severe thunderstorm passed through this area.  One of my brothers called me at 2.30AM that morning and asked me to come help get things out of the house.


... and I did.  I got this ceramic mixing bowl that I so associate with my Mom and Dad... it was probably worth a dollar or so.  And I also got the glass lemon juicer that my Mom used to make lemonade for us when we were little.  I value these two things as much as I value Life itself.  I've already told my kids, that when I die, all I care about in my house are these two items.  They know where they are... they know what they look like.  I  have begged them to make sure that nothing happens to either of those things.


2. What is the best compliment you've ever received?


This is easy.  It's when a former student tells me that I made a difference in his or her Life... when they tell me that I was there for them when they needed someone.

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I will ask you... those of you who read this... to answer the same questions... please...

Pretty please...

Pretty please with sugar on it...

~shoes~